The Old Guard
The Evolution of the Old Guard and Their Role in Current Affairs Chapter One: Before Everything Else Before everything else, there was the Europeian Republic. Founded by the passing via referendum of a majority of the citizens. Not usually documented the Third Constitution was not the only proposal. It was matched by a proposal by Pineapleboy and by P.R.A. of Ashedo. The fight that began over the voting of these documents where subtle and behind the scenes. The first 'gathering' of what would become the Old Guard was those who favored HEM's proposal. While the rest of the citizens tended to be more proponents of Pinapleboy's proposal. HEM, still monarch at the time used his expansive powers to rally semi-active citizens to support his proposal. Eventually his Constitution edged out of the opposition (including PRA's proposal that never really got off the ground). HEM then went from his victory at the referendum to win an almost unanimous election as President of the new Republic. HEM's administration was tainted with ignorance of the law including his attempts to appoint the Chief Justice to the contrary of the recently passed Constitution. Many do not fault him, solely because it took even the brightest in the region to realize this. Regardless his term was filled with victory for HEM's faction. Verteger was elected first Senate Speaker just as Nlhp beat down Lord Alphanesia for a contested Senate seat with the help of Lethen. Lethen later ascending to the Speaker-ship with the mysterious vanishing act of Verteger. Basically, this portion of time subtly divided the regions into two factions. a.) Those who supported HEM/Lethen b.) Those who supported Pineapleboy/Danoboy63 People who didn't fit into one of these factions were generally isolated. Unlike political parties citizens would casually drift from one 'faction' to another. Even arguments would re-define the lines that were drawn. These factions didn't operate as political factions as much as arguement factions. Pineapleboy and HEM where constantly at loggerheads and the former alongside Danoboy63 were considerably newer to the region. During the HEM administration he, alongside Lethen as Speaker would oft bend rules of procedure to ensure the region stayed afloat. Many speculate it was this, and the times that followed, that bloated the senses of both of them to do what is right, and not always what was legal. HEM takes a bow after one term, and is succeeded by Lethen. Chapter Two: Turning the Tables After HEM's short and semi-progressive administration he and Lethen swapped roles. Lethen becoming President, and HEM maneuvering to the Speakership. Lethen won a stale, but close election against former Prime Minister Rotalsia as HEM won a unanimous vote for his new post. Lethen's term passed with very little progression or regression. Due to this turn of events the unspoken HEM/Lethen faction fell out of grace and Pineapleboy was elected President of Europeia with NasalivesII becoming Speaker of the Senate who jointly served as Vice President because of election rules at the time. During this time HEM sat on on his first 'semi-retirement' after being formally styled as Surpreme Chancellor as he was vastly consumed by a foreign crisis after being overthrown as King of Hampshire. Many weeks of effort where spent between the native sons of Europeia (Lethen, HEM, Danoboy63, Pineapleboy) in overthrowing Lord Alphanesia in Hampshire. The two factions were temporary united. But domestic issues soon reoccurred as HEM put his hand back into the pot of Executive management. He tried to order the Cabinet to carry out certain tasks over the head of the elected President which lead to a power struggle which invariably was conceded by HEM. This desire to help the region by using micromanaging tactics no longer available to HEM set the stage for an eventual debate over the role he should have in Europeian politics. Chapter Three: Lethen v. Danoboy63 The constant theme in this book hence far has been that two factions existed, but were not political entries nor did they ever directly battle. This mentality changed when the system of Presidential 'tickets' was created. In the first duel of the new system, "Danoboy63/Pineapleboy" faced off against "Lethen/HEM". The election was incredibly close. Indeed, it was the only election to date that ended in a tie. Lethen then proceeded to with the Senate vote by a single Senatorial vote. This election divided the region like no other, it also set itself up for an epic remark two months later which was bitterly contested. Danobody63 won the initial vote, but accusations of an inability to vote was reported by many as well as those in the honorable guest mask have the voting ability. This erupted into a court battle where Lethen challenged the legality of the elections. Using a very liberal interpretation Pez201 ruled that the election was invalid and that new votes should be cast. This turn of events drove Danoboy63 out of the region and effectively ended the old Guard existing in a rivalry until very recent history. Chapter Four: The Summer of Surprises By this time we are approaching the spring and summer of 2008. Europeia had survived for an entire year. Only now is the Old Guard occasionally referenced as an entity via a list that HEM created for his own pleasure. The line drawn at this time was typically an Old Guarder was one who had existed during the time of the monarchy. The new idea of an actual Old Guard grew during this time because.: a.) Europeia was...well...getting older. b.) Europeia experienced an influx of new members. It was during this era where Neohabighorst, Atikva, and Desakar became active. As well as perhaps most notable, Asianatic. The multitude of new members suddenly created a gap between those who had came before, and those who had came recently. On the whole, until this point, Europeia was operating off a rotation of the same members spurred by a newcomer every once and a while. Because of the sudden surge Europeia was very quickly divided by the old and the new. Similar population booms and divides would happen in Europeia, expanding the borders of the Old Guard. The summer was completely dominated by the Nlhp administration which was characterized as a competent mantaining of the status quo. This lead to a particular newbie, Renposa to take a sprint toward the Presidency. Renposa was best defined as sane on the exterior, but highly unstable on the whole often spamming members MSN with random and bizarre movie quotes. Renposa choose Kabtaunuistan as his running mate and they sprinted unopposed toward the Presidential finish line. In desperation, a group of older Europeians including HEM, Lethen, Lexus, and Pineapleboy worked to undermine him and his secret organization that he built to expand his influence. Lexus eventually created the brainchild that was the first Abstain campaign. It was in an organized effort that NS veterans strongmanned Renposa away from the Presidency and supported another Europeian veteran, Pez201 to serve as the President. During this time Renposa drew his greatest support from new members. It was a series of newcomers who started their movement to keep the regional government accountable to the nations that made up the region. This marked the first time that the established members of the region took on a group of new members while attempting to not isolate them away from the region. It was through these two events that the Old Guard found a solid foundation to build itself on. Chapter Five: Champagne Jam Then Champagne Jam changed it all. Champagne Jam (alias Falconias) joined Europeia on the coattails of the fall citizenship boom that nearly skyrocketed a potentially dangerous member to the Presidency who was stopped by a concentrated effort of Europeia's veterans. Champagne Jam first served as a distraction from affairs of state, but he started to climb the political later with distinction. Often HEM and others would remark to themselves their concern of competence with him. Especially when he lobbied for the post of Grand Admiral over the head of reappointing the incumbent Lethen. However, the bubble of deception in February 2009 popped when informants from the Black Hawks tipped off Onderkelkia and through him, HEM of the threat. Initially all where appalled and sickened by the infiltration. However, the court case HEM insisted should take place drew out for days longer than anyone could bear. The facts where blurred, and both sides where tired and frustrated. The public grew tired and weary of the affair especially after conversations where deleted from the Europeian Jail. Seeing the region rip at the seams HEM dropped his case with the intent that he, Lethen and the other old-timers could roadblock Falconias from any office of importance. But they strongly failed after failing to find a legal reason to remove Falconias from the Senate the only thing he was stripped off was his Cabinet post by President Lexus. And even that turned into a floor fight. Falconias launched a Presidential campaign right after the affair and lost in a landslide to incumbent Neohabighorst. He would face a string of embarrassing defeats for the Presidency while consistently getting elected to the Senate with strong margins. Many in the Old Guard, HEM included, assumed that Falconias would never advance anywhere with his Senate seat, and in the short term they proved correct. A disenfranchised Falconias after losing dramatically to Asianatic temporary faded out of Europeian politics. Chapter Six: The Great Population Boom Lexus was elected to a third term as President in July. Before him, and through his entire term, Europeia went through a population boom that was unprecedented. The Federalist Party was formed and a huge number of newbies found their niches in the region. Some of the newcomers included Demataria, Klatonia, Macronamia, Swakistek, Bsmartman09, Aramor, Fortana and numerous, numerous others. The new member faction became a formidable voting bloc. This huge explosion expanded what was considered the "Old Guard" dramatically. This category now easily included Aurora, Cordova I and Anumia and even Kab. Spearheaded by Macronamia in the Federalist Party many new members began to make their way there. HEM started carving their public policy alongside Aramor who slowly became the de facto leader of the EFP. The party rallied around Cordova who was preparing to take on sitting President Lexus. Lexus had founded the Europeian Citizens' Centrist Party which consisted primarily of Old Guard members. The Europeian Federalist Party on the contrary consisted of almost all newer members. The only exceptions being HEM and Cordova. This set the stage for the first newbie/old guard divide since the Presidential races of Lethen and Danoboy63. However, Cordova I faltered. And before he could regain his balance from the more experienced attacks of the Lexian camp he was struck by real life tragedy and forced to concede. Without an opponent it appeared that Lexus was soaring toward re-election. With the newbie base bitter over their fallen hero, it became the perfect storm for someone to fill the power vacuum. The forever stagnate, inactive and redundant Europeian Conservative Party forwarded Mayor Klatonia as their candidate to run for President out of the blue. Klatonia was an intellectual hero of the region and the political race indeed turned out to be a battle between old and new. With a vote of one, the Old Guard minus HEM won that round. HEM had ran on the ticket with Klatonia and strongly backed the upcoming newbie. This set the stage for future political battles that would be, unfortunately, drawn over similar lines. Chapter Seven: The Months of Chaos After the surprise resignation of President Lexus another old guarder took the helm. Lethen became President for his fourth term. The election that followed was participated in by two newbies, Aramor and Mac. While the ECCP technically endorsed Aramor and the ECP sorta backed Mac, the election was plagued by apathy and uncaring. Regardless, the old guard's touted newbie, Aramor, won the election. It was the last election to not be clearly drawn by newbie/old guard lines. Aramor's term proved to be disastrous. Opponents to the Old Guard painted the picture as the Old Guard propping him into power in efforts to minimize the judgment skills of the group of veterans. After resigning, Common-Sense Politics took the wheel until he was almost unanimously voted out of office by the Senate. The election that followed was perhaps the most divisive and dirtiest campaigns until the ones that followed it. Falconias had returned to Europeia just in time to link up with the newly re-branded ECP in the form of the Europeian Nationalist Party. The following factions allowed Falconias to make a huge political recovery from his previous hibernation and isolation.: a.) Abandoning his Liberal/Libertarian/Reformist Party gave Falconias a more moderate face. Despite only months before railing against invaderism and the state of the Europeian Navy Falconias managed to revise his views in more common-sense and reasonable thoughts. b.) The Population Boom of the summer -- Despite Falc's occasional rants between this occurrence and his political revival the vast majority of the electorate did not experience the Champagne Jam affair in the same light as the increasingly polarized old guard did. c.) The failed administrations of the fall and early winter gave Falconias easy ammunition to through at the ineffective governments. He was seen as someone who could do more competent work than those who had come before. Indeed, many newbies have seen only one full term President -- Lexus. These factors, among others allowed Falconias to become Vice President candidate to the pragmatic and reasonable Carracalla. The Old Guard, remembering their dedication to keep Falconias out of high office and with allies breathing down their necks highlighted some points of note of Falconias' past. New members saw these attacks as petty and stuck in the past. The members who arrived in the great population boom scowled at the negative focus on the Vice Presidential candidate and began to look down upon many Old Guarders who made what they considered, reactionary attacks. HEM predominately spent valuable political capital attempting to keep Falconias out of high office in fear of Falc's intentions, and of how their allies would react. Once again, the Old Guard prevailed in launching Oliver Grey into the Goldenblock and shutting Falconias away from Executive Power. But discontent from the new member base and the incompetency of the next government would result in far different results next election. Very quickly Falconias pitted with his allies from the newer member base where positioning themselves as political allies to HEM, Lethen, Aurora and other Old Guard members. Chapter Eight: A Grey, Cloudy Sky with Thunderstorms Brewing The man who defeated Carracalla was Oliver Grey. His administration started with a huge controversy in Cabinet Choices. Early and often Falconias established himself as leader of the opposition. Oliver Grey and his administration including Vice President HEM where plagued with missteps. And all those missteps where amplified and broadcasted by Falconias. The Old Guard took to their duty by defending Grey and going on the offense against Falconias. Oliver Grey's term eventually imploded when he resigned handing the mantel down to Lexus. The series of events that took place in this term where quelled only by the elder statesman back at the helm. However anger brew under the surface. The Old Guard firmly believed that the newer members where naively following Falconias just as the newer members where convinced that the Old Guard was stuck in the past and had a blind vendetta against the NCP and Falc. The election that followed was actually surprising. The campaign between Falconias and Common-Sense Politics was almost lethargic with the Old Guard resigned to the fact that Falconias would be elected. The term that followed was became so polarizing, Europeia began to rip at the seams. Chapter Nine: The Coup D'état Falconias was elected President with a modest margin. His Presidency started off well enough. Despite dicey Cabinet picks the Senate gave them all the nod. However then the population began to skydive. A series of events lead to Falconias having to reappoint his entire Cabinet. His Interior Nominee only passed with a single vote, and the Senate grew more restless with the President as the divide between them grew larger and larger. The President eventually proposed a plan to expand the Cabinet and proposed his plan using Executive Order. The first Constitutional Amendment failed to be approved by the Senate as the Second series of changes was vetoed by the Senate. With his administration, including the Vice President Carracalla being under fire. Falconias grew more and more aggravated with the Old Guard lambasting his term. Not long after a damning report of Senator Kazaman's activity was published by President Falconias just as he revealed Senator HEM should be suspended because of his lack of recruitment. HEM accused Falconias of "killing off anyone who opposes him." Tensions mounted between the Old Guard and the government as they sought to remove Falconias by VoNC or at the next election interval. They touted a newer member who served as Falconias' Grand Admiral, Rougiers to run. The race grew dirtier and dirtier until Falconias revealed he would be stepping back due to real life concerns. Three candidates took up the helm. None of which sparked large enthusiasm or large passion. The storm subsided.